DUNCAN WOOD is the director of the Mexico Institute at the Wilson Center. Prior to this, he was a professor and the director of the International Relations Program at the Instituto Tecnologico Autonomo de Mexico (ITAM) in Mexico City for 17 years. He has been a member of the Mexican National Research System, an editorial advisor to both Reforma and El Universal newspapers, and is a member of the editorial board of Foreign Affairs Latinoamerica. In 2007, he was a non-resident Fulbright Fellow and, between 2007 and 2009, he was technical secretary of the Red Mexicana de Energia, a group of experts in the area of energy policy in Mexico. He has been a Senior Associate with the Simon Chair and the Americas Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington, D.C. His research focuses on Mexican energy policy, including renewable energy, and North American relations. He studied in the UK and Canada, receiving his PhD in political studies from Queen’s University, Canada, and is a recipient of the Canadian Governor General’s Visit Award for contributions to the Mexico-Canada relationship.

The Mexico Institute is delighted to present a dial-in event in which expert analysts will offer their take on the broader implications of El Chapo's escape on the future of Mexico and the U.S.-Mexico security relationship more

The drug lord known as “El Chapo” has escaped from a maximum security prison for a second time. What are the implications for Mexico’s war on organized crime? Mexico Institute Director Duncan Wood provides an overview. more

In the final installment of our recap of the Wilson Center May 2015 Alumni Conference, an expert panel explores the ongoing ways that immigration is transforming America. That’s the focus of this edition of REWIND. more

What long term political trends were revealed through the results of Mexico’s recent elections? While the ruling party did maintain control as expected, Mexico Institute Director Duncan Wood says that there were still surprises in the details of the results. And some of those surprises go beyond the unexpected victory of the independent candidate known as “El Bronco.” more

A few weeks after the electorate takes to the polls, the government faces another, more demanding examination of its most important achievement thus far: the opening of the nation´s hydrocarbons industry to private and foreign investment, when companies submit bids on the first batch of contracts under Round One. Duncan Wood discusses contract terms in this article with the Financial Times. more

Opportunities for unconventional or shale oil and gas production in Mexico are in the earliest stages of development. Due to its close proximity to major shale field development in South and West Texas, Mexico is particularly well positioned to take advantage of unconventional extraction techniques. However significant challenges will have to be addressed. more

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“So what will the Pemex explosion mean for the national debate on energy reform? It puts Pemex firmly in the spotlight for a start,” tweeted Duncan Wood, director of the Mexico Institute at the Woodrow Wilson centre in Washington. “Pemex needs to be modernised from top to bottom, from exploration and production to basic practices . . . will legislators [now] recognise that Pemex has fallen behind the times?”

Duncan Wood's remarks on the future of U.S.-Mexico relations were quoted in The News. “Looking forward to the next six years of the relationship between (the U.S. and Mexican) governments, there is the potential for an extremely fruitful relationship on energy issues.”

Duncan Wood spoke to the Financial Times regarding Enrique Pena Nieto's efforts to overcome political gridlock. “It is a political statement,” he said. “And it fits with the PRI tradition of trying to build consensus.”

This article is in Spanish.
Duncan Wood quoted extensively in an article about the new Mexico Institute publication on the future of US-Mexico relations following President Obama's second Inauguration.

During his campaign, recently elected Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto spoke of energy sector reform as a national priority. So is the time ripe for significant change? And is there agreement on the nature of the problems and preferred solutions? To gain perspective on the current situation and the potential for reform, we spoke with Mexican energy policy expert and Wilson Center Mexico Institute Director, Duncan Wood.

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The Mexico Institute is delighted to present a dial-in event in which expert analysts will offer their take on the broader implications of El Chapo's escape on the future of Mexico and the U.S.-Mexico security relationship

The Wilson Center's Mexico Institute was pleased to host an event on Mexico's 2015 midterm elections. On June 7, 2015, more than 86 million Mexicans will have the opportunity to elect 500 federal deputies, 17 state-level legislatures, 9 governors, and more than 300 mayors.

The Wilson Center's Mexico Institute, Border Trade Alliance, and the Asociación de Empresarios Mexicanos invite you to our second annual high-level "Building a Competitive U.S.-Mexico Border" conference this year, focusing on improving border management in order to strengthen the competitiveness of both the United States and Mexico.

The Mexico Institute hosted Mexico’s Under Secretary of Energy Planning and Transition, Leonardo Beltrán, who will spoke on both Mexico’s energy reform process and the prospects for renewable energy and carbon gas emissions reductions. At the same time, we were proud to launch our new publication “Renewable Energy in Mexico’s Northern Border Region,” which analyzes the current renewable energy situation in the north of the country and potential opportunities to engage in a productive relationship with the private and the public sectors in the United States.

The Mexico Institute is pleased to invite you to learn about the efforts of the Mexican government to improve financial literacy within the Mexican and Hispanic communities in the United States and Canada.

The Mexico Institute hosted an event on U.S.-Mexico relations, security, and human rights, exploring the effects of U.S. policy, and Mexico's struggle against organized crime, on the security situation in the country.

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Mexico's security strategy is evolving with a focus on coordination and violence reduction. Although tensions have emerged in the short term, the long term offers a number of prospects for fruitful collaboration between the United States and Mexico in the security arena.

On March 14, 2013, Duncan Wood, Director of the Wilson Center’s Mexico Institute, testified before the House Committee on Foreign Affairs’ Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere. The hearing, titled “U.S. Energy Security: Enhancing Partnerships with Mexico and Canada,” included a discussion of the Keystone XL pipeline and the Transboundary Hydrocarbons Agreement.

Based on the collaborative work of a high‐level group of Mexican energy experts during the first half of 2012, this report focuses on the issues facing Mexico’s hydrocarbon sector and the most important principles that must underlie the forthcoming reform of the country’s oil and gas industry. Although multiple diagnoses of the sector exist, in recent years there has been no fundamental examination of the principles that should underlie the nation’s energy policy.

The U.S.-Mexico border region is one of enormous energy resources, both traditional and renewable. This report provides an overview of the prospects for renewable energy projects in Mexico’s border states, examining the development of wind, solar and municipal solid waste projects. This research evaluates the potential impact of investment in these projects on border communities in terms of employment, infrastructure, human capital and social participation.

With over 1,000 MW of wind energy capacity now installed and another 2,000 MW under construction, Mexico’s wind energy sector has grown dramatically since the early 1990s. This report examines the potential for creating economic benefits in border states from wind energy development, with particular attention paid to employment and infrastructure.

This report recognizes the growing potential for bioenergy, which has attracted public and private sector interest in recent years. It has become clear that Mexico’s land and labor costs make the cross-border trade in renewable energy an exciting and potentially highly profitable sector. Of bioenergy feedstocks, municipal solid waste may represent the greatest potential for growth in Mexico and the U.S.-Mexico transborder region.

First in his series of Monthly Reports on PEMEX and U.S.-Mexico Energy Cooperation, this article explores the implications of the recently signed Transboundary Hydrocarbons Agreement, which resolves the question of what to do with potential oil reserves along the dividing line between Mexico and the United States in the Gulf of Mexico. Wood sees the agreement as "extremely good news," as it marks the "end of a decades-long process to try to determine oil rights in these two areas, opening the door to exploration and production that offers the prospect of exciting new modes of cooperation between Pemex and private oil companies."